1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image matching system for performing matching between an image captured by an imaging apparatus and previously registered matching information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known an image matching system for performing matching between an image captured with a camera and previously registered matching information, in which a storage server stores the matching information and the camera receives the matching information from the storage server via a network to perform matching.
The matching system is used as an authentication system in which a camera performs matching between a person image captured with the camera and matching information to perform person authentication, or as a monitoring camera for detecting a person that matches matching information and sending an image of the detected person to a computer.
For example, a matching system in which face data is sent to a camera from a computer via a network, and the camera performs face authentication of the sent face data and a face image captured with the camera, and sends, when both are matched with each other, the face image, a camera number, and a photographing time to the computer has been known (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-158421).
A matching system in which a face authentication server searches for face data when a customer number is sent thereto from a counter terminal, and sends the face data corresponding to the customer number to the counter terminal, and the counter terminal performs face authentication by a face image captured with a camera and the face data sent from the face authentication server has been known (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0224573).
When the camera stores the matching information to perform matching, the amount of memory that can be carried in the camera is limited. Therefore, the number of images that can be matched with a captured image is limited. When an operator gives a request to send matching information that matches a matching object to the camera every time the matching object is matched, a burden is imposed on the operator.